Symbiote Holocaust
by Blaque Cell
Summary: You are a notorious serial killer. You are unstoppable. And you are nothing. When you have nothing to lose, what's to stop you from causing unimaginable suffering? Ask Carnage that question. And ask Spider-Man how to stop it. Chapter 7 is up.
1. Nothing

SYMBIOTE HOLOCAUST

  
  


CHAPTER ONE: Nothing

  
  


Rain. It just had to be rain. It seemed like every time he went outside, it was rain. He hated rain so very much. Rain was boring. It was just...clear. No color, no personality.

He walked down past a few stores and brushed past a few people. There was an older gentlemen who sat on the sidewalk near a grated vent, taking in the heat from underground. His clothes were tattered and dirty, and he wore a thick, gray beard. His face was stained with soot and dirt. In his right hand was a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels, in his left was a paper cup with a little loose change in it. The old man held his cup out.

"Good evening, sir. Boy oh boy, you must be a lawyer or something. Got any spare change? I just need to get something to eat..." the old bum said.

He stared down at the old man. After a moment of thought, he reached down and grabbed the cup of change and the bottle. Humming happily to himself, he walked away while partaking of the liquor. Dumbfounded, the old man picked himself up off of the ground and followed while shouting.

"Hey, get back here, you prick! Ya' know how long it took me to save up that money?" the old bum yelled.

He continued walking, continued drinking, without acknowledging the old man.

"Hey, look at me! You hear me? Gimme my stuff back, you sack of crap!" the old man yelled.

He stopped, lowered the bottle, and looked back over his shoulder.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" yelled the old man.

"Who am I?" 

The old man was about to say something, but he suddenly found that he had lost his ability to speak. That was because a red and black spear had come from seemingly nowhere and impaled the old man in his heart. Eventually the spear retracted, and the old man hit the ground, dead.

"Truth is, I don't even know anymore," answered Cletus Kasady as he walked into a nearby cemetery.

Cletus walked and walked while still sipping on the Jack Daniels. Eventually he stopped at a grave and stared down at the tombstone. At first his face showed no emotion. But then it slowly shifted. Now his face showed nothing but anger. He hurled the bottle at the tombstone. The bottle exploded and spread liquor and glass all over the tombstone and the ground. Cletus continued staring at the tombstone, and it was then that the anger in his face changed to sadness. He dropped to his knees and allowed himself to weep for the first time in years. Then, after a moment, he looked back up at the tombstone.

"So, you proud of me, Ma? Little baby Cletus, your bundle of joy, your flesh and blood, your legacy....this is me...I'm...I'm..." Cletus paused for a moment, and then raised his fists into the air. "I'M NOTHING!" Cletus allowed himself to lower back to the ground. "Not a damn thing..."

Just then a group of teenagers began to approach Cletus. There were five of them, the oldest being nineteen. He was the leader. He walked up to Cletus first.

"Hey, man, you okay? It ain't normal for a guy to start screamin' for no reason," the leader said.

"Yo, Mark, you ain't gonna kill 'em, are you?" said one of the leader's friends.

"Shut up, I'm tryin' to talk to the guy," said Mark.

Cletus didn't even bother to look up.

"Hey, you deaf or somethin', pussy?" Mark said as he drew a knife. "Let's have the wallet, punk. Hey, you hear me?"

Cletus looked at Mark over his shoulder.

"What do you plan to do with that?" asked Cletus, indicating the knife.

"What do you think, pussy? Gimme the fuckin' money before I cut you!" demanded Mark.

"You? Cut me?" Cletus grabbed a sharp shard of glass from the ground and ran it across his wrist. "That's funny..." The blood leaked out of his arm and ran across the ground.

"Dude, he's fuckin' nuts..." one of Mark's friends said.

"Shut up. I don't care if he's got screws loose or not, he's gonna get hurt," said Mark.

"Kid, you don't know what it means to get hurt..." said Cletus as the blood started to run back up his arm. Some of the blood started to run black as it ran over his whole body. "But I would be happy to show you!" said Cletus as the last of the blood covered his neck and head.

"What...what the hell is that?" one of Mark's friends yelled.

"You really wanna know? Come on. I started a freakin' riot just a couple years ago. I beat up this town's resident webslinger and his black and white retarded clone on a regular basis. But, what the hell, I'll tell you anyway, just because I like hearing my own name..."

Cletus rose, turned, and fired a dart from his wrist that embedded itself in between the eyes of one of Mark's friends. Immediately they all turned and ran, and he chased after them with ease.

"I'm Carnage, and I'm..." then he stopped. For once, he couldn't even think of a cool line. He couldn't think of anything. "I'm nothing..."

Carnage eventually rushed forward and tore into every one of the teens except for Mark. Blood painted the ground, with bones and pieces of flesh for extra decoration. Eventually everybody was gone but Mark and Carnage. Carnage glared down at Mark while breathing heavily, not fully knowing what to do with him.

"What's the point?" Carnage thought aloud. "He'd just be another victim. Just another pointless kill. Why even go on? Why even keep living? Why even...why...wait..." In a moment of inspiration, Carnage glanced back at the tombstone. "Heh...thanks, Mom..."

"What...what are you gonna do with me?" asked Mark as he backed away on the ground.

Carnage knelt over Mark and flashed a toothy black grin.

"What's your name, kid?" asked Carnage.

"M...Mark..." Mark replied.

"Mark, my friend, you're gonna be part of history..." said Carnage.

******

The three thugs burst from the door of the convenience store and jumped into their car. Then they took off as quick as possible.

"Yo, how much we get?" one of them yelled to his partner in the backseat.

"I count about three hundred so far!" the other yelled back to him.

"That's it? It wasn't even worth it!" the third one yelled.

The car sped through the streets. It wasn't long before there was a police car trailing them. The guy in the passenger seat turned and fired back at the cops.

"Die, you pig motherfucker!" he screamed while firing. He ducked back into the car and looked at his partner. "Can't you drive this shit any faster?"

"Shut up, man! Don't worry about those cops, we're clear!" the driver said.

Just then there was a thump on the roof of the car.

"What was that?" asked the one in the back.

The one in the passenger seat looked out of the window and up.

"What the fuck is this?" he asked himself. A second later a guy in a red and blue costume poked his head out from above the roof of the car.

"First of all, gimme this," the guy said as he grabbed the gun and crushed it. 

"What the fuck?!" exclaimed the thug in the car.

"Secondly, watch that mouth, kid," said the guy as he punched the thug in the face and knocked him unconscious. 

"What the hell happened? Rico's out!" screamed the guy in the backseat.

On the other side of the car, the back door was ripped off. Spider-Man poked his head in while upside-down.

"I'm not even gonna comment on the guy's name, but... 'out'? That's the term you guys use for unconscious? You kids and your newfangled slang talk..." 

Spider-Man quickly fired a web that pinned the guy to the seat. Then he rose back up to the roof. Crawling forward, he poked his head in front of the windshield.

"Smile, you're on Candid Camera!" said Spider-Man.

"Ah! Get away from me!" yelled the driver as he slammed on the breaks. The jerk caused Spider-Man to fly off of the car, but he caught himself on a lightpole, gracefully backflipped while holding onto the pole, and then landed on top of it. The car sped forward again. Spider-Man swung with his webs from pole to pole while trailing the car, and then he landed of top of it again.

"Stop the car or I'll be forced to waste another stupid joke on you!" demanded Spider-Man.

"You can't stop me, Spider-Man! You can't stop me!" screamed the driver.

Spider-Man paused for a second, and then he punched through the roof of the car.

"Wanna bet?" said Spider-Man as he fired a web that pinned the driver's foot to the break. He fired another web to hold the driver still, and then he jumped off of the car. The police were on the car in seconds.

"Don't move a muscle!" yelled one officer as he drew a gun on the driver.

"Like he has a choice..." Spider-Man said with a smirk.

The police all focused on getting the unconscious and webbed up thugs out of the car while Spider-Man watched.

"Oh, sure the Fantastic Four prevent a crime, they show up on Oprah Winfrey. I prevent a crime, I'm on America's Most Wanted. You know what? Screw you guys, I'm going home. To the Spidercave!" said Spider-Man. He expected somebody to laugh, but nobody was even looking his way. 

Just as he turned, Spider-Man noticed something peculiar a few feet away. Not too far away was the entrance to a cemetery. He knew it well. It was where he, Venom, and the Black Cat had faced Carnage at the end of the riots that he had started. He walked toward the entrance and then crouched down. There, on the ground, was the body of an old man, seemingly homeless, covered in blood. It seemed as though he had been impaled with something.

"Who could have done this?" Spider-Man asked himself.

It was then that he noticed something else not too far away. A few feet away, there was a message on the ground. Spider-Man walked toward the message and immediately knew that it was blood. 

"I'M COMING"

"Ah crap..." Spider-Man moaned aloud.

  
  


END OF CHAPTER ONE

  
  



	2. The Experiment

Forgot the disclaimer. Spider-Man, Carnage, and all the other characters you see in this story belong to Marvel. I don't own a damn thing. So there you go.

  
  


CHAPTER TWO: The Experiment

  
  


"Peter? Peter, dear, is that you?" asked Mary Jane as the silhouette of a masked man appeared in her bedroom window.

"Yes, darling, I'm home," said Peter as he stepped inside and removed his mask.

"How was your day, dear?" asked Mary Jane.

"Ah, business as usual. First I beat the Hulk arm-wrestling again, then I captured the Sinister Six by lunchtime. Oh yes, I won another Pulitzer Prize for my photos, and Mr. Jameson wrote another article about how amazing and commendable Spider-Man is," said Peter.

"Oh, that's wonderful, dear! Well, why don't you get out of that costume and have dinner? There's lobster and drawn butter waiting for you in the kitchen."

"Mmm, lobster! That's great. I was starting to get kinda tired of having rack of lamb every night."

Just as Peter was about to leave the bedroom, a little girl ran into the room and hugged him.

"Daddy, Daddy, you're home! Did you beat up any bad guys today, Daddy?" asked little May.

"Oh, just the Sinister Six, honey. Oh yeah, and I beat up Galactus on the way home. Nothing too big. How was your day, sweetie?" asked Peter.

"Um...oh yeah, I got my report card today, Daddy," said May as she handed it to her father.

"Alright! Straight A's again! My little girl's a genius. That Franklin Richards's got nothing on my daughter!" said Peter happily. "Well, I think I'll go have some of that lobster!"

Peter started walking out of the room, but then stopped when he felt his Spider-Sense buzz. Turning around, he saw and felt an explosion from the wall of his bedroom. Everyone inside had been knocked down. When he looked up, he saw somebody in green and purple armor floating outside of his window.

"You!" exclaimed Peter as he stood up.

The Green Goblin did not reply. He only laughed.

"Daddy, I'm scared!" said May.

"As well you should be, my dear!" said the Goblin as he swooped in and grabbed May. He then turned and flew away.

"No! Get back here, Goblin!" yelled Peter as he drew his mask and leapt out of the window.

Almost immediately, the costumed foes found themselves at the Brooklyn Bridge.

"All too familiar, isn't it Spider-Man? You know what happens next, don't you?" said the Goblin. The Goblin immediately turned and tossed May over the side and toward the water.

"No!" screamed Spider-Man. He instinctively dove over the edge toward his daughter.

He seemed to be falling forever, but he never came close to May. She was always just out of his grasp. He tried firing a webline, but nothing came out of his webshooters.

"Help me Daddy!" screamed May.

"Oh my God! I'm coming, May! I won't let this happen to you!" screamed Spider-Man.

Just then, May's form seemed to shift. She became taller. Her hair changed to a blonde color. She wore black boots, a green jacket, and a black dress. 

"Peter, why did you let me die?" cried Gwen as she fell out of Peter's view.

"Gwen? Gwen, please, don't leave me again!" cried Spider-Man.

As if out of nowhere, the ground suddenly formed under Spider-Man. He crashed into it with a resounding thud. However, he was still alive. From the corner of his eye, he could see an airplane, and Mary Jane was boarding it.

"Mary Jane? What...what are you doing?" asked Spider-Man.

"I'm leaving you Peter. I've had enough of this life. Enough of this torment. Enough...enough of you," said Mary Jane as she boarded the plane. It immediately took off, leaving Spider-Man alone on the ground.

"No...please...Mary Jane...May...Gwendy..."

"Peter, help me!" screamed somebody from behind. 

Spider-Man willed himself to his hands and knees and turned around. He could see the Green Goblin, holding his Aunt May by the throat.

"Aunt May!" exclaimed Peter.

"She's the last one, isn't she Peter? Without her you'll be all alone," said the Goblin. 

Then, with a quick turn of his arms, he snapped Aunt May's neck. Her body hit the ground.

"There. Now you truly are alone. You will never be happy, Spider-Man. Do you hear me?" said the Goblin as he lit a pumpkin bomb. "Never!"

The Goblin hurled the bomb. It stopped one inch from Peter's face and exploded. And then...

"No!" screamed Peter as he sat up in the bed, cold sweat running over his face.

Looking around, Peter surveyed his surroundings. He was home. In a very empty home. In a very empty bed. Back in his very empty life.

"Damn...that dream again..." complained Peter. "This has been happening for a week. Why does this keep happening? And the worst part is, I wake up knowing that I'm stuck in the same rut. MJ is still in California. I do not have my daughter to bring home good report cards. I do not have a Pulitzer Prize. And Jameson, saying positive things about everyone's favorite webhead? Please..."

Peter rose from the bed and looked down at his clock. It was seven A.M.

"Crap, I gotta be to work in an hour. No rest for the wicked...or the webbed..." said Peter as he walked into his bathroom.

******

Jennifer Hardesty entered her home room and sat down. For once, she had actually been there before her teacher, Mr. Parker. She sat down beside her three friends, Kyra, Jackie, and Sharia. They were all talking, and then they all turned to Jennifer.

"Hey, Jenny, you hear what happened?" asked Jackie.

"What?" asked Jenny.

"Jason, Aaron, Nate, and Richard all got killed last night," said Kyra.

"What? How?" asked Jenny.

"They all got cut up. Bad too. Police don't know who did it, though," said Sharia.

"But that's not all. Nobody knows where Mark is either. He always hangs with them, but his mom said he didn't come home last night, so the cops think it's connected," said Jackie.

"Wow...where did this happen?" asked Jenny.

"I dunno, some cemetery," said Sharia.

"Yeah, it was the cemetery where Spider-Man beat that dude Carnage a couple years back," said Kyra.

"I wonder what could have happened to them..." said Jenny.

"It's scary, Jen. Whoever did it left a message in blood that he was coming. Could be a serial killer or something," said Kyra.

Just then, Mr. Parker arrived in the classroom, although he was looking very tired.

"Hey, guys, uh...whatever you were doing...uh...keep doing it until first period begins," said Peter. A moment later he saw two students kissing in the back of the room. "Except that. Hey, you two, cut it out!"

The bell rang, and the students left for their first class. Jenny stopped at Peter's desk.

"Mr. Parker, did you hear what happened last night?" asked Jenny.

"Yeah, I did. That's awful," replied Peter.

"Do...do you think it could be somebody targeting kids?"

"I'm not really sure, Jenny. I wish I had an answer for you."

'I really do wish I knew what had happened, though. And it doesn't comfort me that the scene of the murders just so happened to be an old stomping ground for Carnage,' thought Peter.

"Well, I'd better get to class. See you later, Mr. Parker," said Jenny as she left.

"See you, Jen," said Peter.

Peter watched Jennifer leave, and then he prepared for his first period class to come in.

******

The door swung open, and the light blinded Mark's eyes. He raised his hands over his face to shield his eyes.

"Please, no more..." Mark pleaded.

"Oh, quit being a wuss. Come on, it's time for another experiment," said Cletus as he drug Mark out of the closet he had been locked in and tossed him into a chair. Holding out his hand, he fired a red and black tendril from his arm that held Mark to the chair.

They were in a house that had been built on the outskirts of Queens. There were no houses near it, because the owner had decided to build it in a secluded area so he could have privacy. Now he regretted that fact. He, along with his wife and children, were each tied to chairs on the opposite side of the room with red and black cords that had been formed from Carnage's symbiote. They all watched as Cletus, who now wore a silk robe that had belonged to the father, grabbed the father, rose him from the chair, and tossed him to the ground by Mark's feet.

"Know what? I just realized something. I don't even know your name," said Cletus.

"Jonathan," the father replied.

"Got a last name, Johnny?" asked Cletus.

"Johnson," the father replied.

"Wait a minute...your name is John Johnson? Ha! Now that is funny! What were your parents on that night?" said Cletus. Nobody in the room laughed. "Oh, that's not funny? Well, fuck you too!" said Cletus as he lifted John into the air and slapped him. "So, how's about the misses?"

"Please, leave her alone..."

"Shut up!" Cletus threw John back to the ground. He then walked over to the wife. "What's your name, sweet thang?"

"M...Michelle," the wife managed to stutter.

"Ah, such a beautiful name. Michelle, can I ask you a question?" Cletus's arm suddenly formed into a red and black tendril, and he ran it ever so smoothly along Michelle's cheek.

"O...okay..."

"Does your husband satisfy you?" asked Cletus.

"What?"

"Be honest. Come on, I'm serious. You know, in bed. Does he satisfy you?"

"I...yes, he does..."

"Okay....does he have a little...y'know....webshooter?"

"I...I...I..."

"AHA! The truth comes out! Johnny, my man, your wife is not satisfied with you in bed! I'm afraid I'll have to satisfy her for ya!"

"Don't you dare touch my wife!" yelled John.

"Uh oh, I've struck a nerve. Fine, I won't touch your wife," said Cletus as he moved over to John's son and daughter. "But the kids..."

"No...my God...Dillon...Amber..." John cried.

"Choose which one gets their throat cut, Johnny. Come on, I'm in a sporting mood," said Cletus.

The two children started crying. Cletus clamped his hands over their mouths.

"Quiet, kids. Daddy's making a decision," said Cletus.

"Please, we'll give you anything you want. Just please, don't hurt our..." Michelle said shortly before a glob of red and black goo flew forward and held her mouth shut.

"Shut up, bitch! I'm waiting for Johnny's decision. Come on before I kill them both!" said Cletus.

"Please don't do this...I don't want to hurt my children..." John pleaded.

"Ah, just what I thought you'd say. That's where my experiment comes in," said Cletus.

The symbiote covered Cletus's body in an instant. Carnage now stood over John and held his head in one hand. He held his other hand in front of John's face.

"Mark, if this works on Johnny, imagine how much fun you're gonna have!" Carnage said over his shoulder.

A small red spike grew from Carnage's hand and crawled over John's face. Eventually it moved up to his nose, and then went inside. John's body began to shake violently, while he made gagging and choking sounds. Eventually his head went back, and he let out a scream. But then, his face was blank. There was no expression. Carnage removed the cords that held his hands behind his back, and John stood up.

"How you feelin', Johnny-boy?" asked Carnage.

John said nothing.

"No foolin'! Well, now it's time to see if my experiment payed off." Carnage formed a knife and a sickle in his hands and handed them to John.

"Your tools, Maestro," said Carnage as he presented the weapons. 

John took the weapons, and then he looked at Carnage.

"The boy," commanded Carnage.

Michelle screamed through the goo on her mouth as John walked over to his son. Dillon looked up at his father with silent fear. Michelle shut her eyes and turned away. She could feel her son's blood splashing on her as the deed was done. Dillon only screamed for a moment, and then the room was filled with the sounds of flesh tearing and blood splashing. When it was all over, only the sounds of Michelle and Amber's crying and Carnage's laughter could be heard.

"Good job, Johnny! Well, it's nice to see that I can actually accomplish something." Carnage then turned to Mark. "Your turn will come up shortly. But first..." 

Carnage walked over to Michelle, lifted her from the chair, and carried her upstairs. Seconds later, Mark could hear her muffled screams as well as Carnage's laughter.

********

Spider-Man had been perched upon Bruce, his gargoyle/buddy for nearly an hour before he decided it was time to start moving. It had been a week since the murders that were all over the news, and still there was no sign of Mark Powell, the student who had gone missing. Peter had known him as a troublemaker and knew that he ran with a gang, but what had happened did not seem like the modus operandi of a gang. The boys who died had been cut, some of them with limbs severed, one of them decapitated. 

"Well, I'll see you later, Bruce. Gotta do the superhero thing," said Spider-Man. He leapt from the gargoyle, let himself fall for awhile, fired a webline and started swinging. 

A few blocks away, a policeman was walking down the street, just patrolling. Suddenly, a body crashed through the window of a nearby jewelry store. The body landed in front of the policeman. A second later, a man leapt through the window to the street. It was John.

"Freeze!" yelled the policeman.

The second the policeman drew his gun, John moved forward with inhuman speed and slapped the gun out of his hand. He then lifted the policeman into the air by his throat and hurled him across the street. The policeman hit the ground and rolled backwards. He managed to draw his radio and call for help before passing out.

Within minutes, John had knocked out several police officers who had come to apprehend him. One officer managed to shoot him in the stomach, but he just glared at the officer before rushing forward, grabbing him by the head, and snapping his neck. He then threw the policemen's body at two of his fellow officers.

Another officer tackled John and slapped the cuffs on him. With no effort at all, John snapped the cuffs, turned, and punched the officer in the face. The officer hit the ground, and then John stood over him with his fist raised in the air. His assault was halted by a web that snared his arm.

"Dude, I don't like cops anymore than you do, but if I got a beef with 'em, I just pull their pants down, not beat on 'em," said Spider-Man, who was perched upon a nearby lamppost.

With a quick pull, John pulled the webline and Spider-Man along with it. Spider-Man landed on his hands and performed a handspring to his feet. He then turned back to John.

"Okay, that was unexpected..."

Spider-Man looked John over and saw that he was covered with dirt and dry blood.

"Who are you supposed to be? The Butcher? Meat Cleaver Man? Oh wait, I got it, Horror Movie Ripoff Man!"

John said nothing back.

"Deaf Man? Mute Man?" Spider-Man suggested.

John said nothing back.

"I-Have-No-Sense-Of-Humor-Man?"

John rushed forward and punched Spider-Man in the face. Spider-Man stepped back.

'Weird...I should have been able to dodge that punch...' thought Spider-Man.

Spider-Man returned the punch with a cross of his own. John's head snapped back, and then snapped forward again in a headbutt. Spider-Man stumbled back, and then jumped back to perch on another lightpole.

'Maybe he's a mutant,' thought Spider-Man.

John ran forward, leapt high into the air, and kicked Spider-Man in the abdomen. The kick sent him off of the lightpole and he crashed into the windshield of a nearby car. Before he could even get over the shock of both the jump and the kick, John had jumped upon him, slammed him into the car, and then threw him several feet away. Spider-Man flipped in midair and landed on his feet.

"Alright, stand still for a second while I think up some more dumb jokes," said Spider-Man.

Spider-Man held his hands out and bound John with webbing. John strained a little, and then he tore the webbing. Under his mask, there was a look of shock on Peter's face, but it wore off after a second as he tried to come up with a strategy to use against this man. John leapt forward again and threw several punches, which Spider-Man dodged. He blasted John in the face with webbing, and then delivered two hard strikes to his jaw. He followed them up with a punch to the stomach, and then he rose into the air and kicked John in the jaw on the way up. John fell to the ground, and then Spider-Man drove both feet into his abdomen upon his landing. Finally he backflipped away and waited to see if his opponent would rise again.

John did rise again, but before they could continue fighting, a loud bang filled the air. A bullet entered the back of John's head, and blood exited it. John's body hit the ground. A man in a brown trenchcoat placed his gun back in its holster and walked toward John.

"Was that really necessary?" asked Spider-Man.

"He killed one of my men. Yes, it was necessary," the man replied.

"And you are?"

"Payne. Captain Jackson Payne."

Captain Payne was a tall black man with a muscular frame. He stood about five inches taller than Spider-Man, and his physical appearance seemed to be just as well toned as that of Spider-Man's, although Spider-Man was still much stronger. His hair was a military style crew cut, and he had a thin black mustache. He knelt over John's body and examined it. Suddenly, Peter's Spider Sense went off.

"Step back!" Spider-Man warned as he pushed the captain back. 

A red spike emerged from John's head and flew into the air with lightning-like quickness. Both men stared into the sky while trying to make some sense of what they had just seen.

"What the hell was that?" exclaimed the captain.

Some more officers ran to the captain's side.

"Sir, are you alright?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get this guy out of here. I want an autopsy done pronto," said Captain Payne.

"Yes, sir. Let's get moving, boys!" the officer said.

"I'd like to know the results of that autopsy myself," said Spider-Man.

"You're not a cop. It's none of your business," said Captain Payne as he got into his car and drove away.

"Sorry, Captain, but I have to make it my business..." 

Little did the captain know that a Spider-Tracer had been placed on him...

******

Cletus lay on the bed, smoking a cigarette, with a big grin on his face.

"I tell ya, baby, you ain't never had lovin' til you had some of that symbiote lovin'. Granted, you're not nearly as good as my last girlfriend so you couldn't get that big of a rise out of me, but still...But my last woman, man oh man could she hit a high note! There's a reason they called her Shriek, ya know," said Cletus. 

Michelle lay on the bed next to him, her hands bound to the bedpost with symbiotic cords. She did not respond, she only closed her eyes and wept silently.

"What, are you crying? Damn, I was that good, huh?" said Cletus. He grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. A news program was on. When he saw a guy in familiar red and blue tights on the screen, Cletus sat up.

"And this is where it all took place, ladies and gentlemen. This is where several people were injured, including six police officers who have been hospitalized. Also, one officer has been pronounced dead at the scene. The assailant, shown here in battle with the vigilante known as Spider-Man, has also been pronounced dead due to a gunshot wound to the head," said the reporter on the T.V.

"Hey, lookit, Spidey got beat up by your hubby!" said Cletus.

Michelle slowly opened her eyes and saw her husband leap into the air and kick Spider-Man in the midsection. She closed her eyes again and lay her head back.

"Or, should I say, your late hubby?" Cletus added. "Well, time for me to get to work. See ya, sweetums. Don't go anywhere while I'm gone. Oh yeah, you can't..."

Cletus walked downstairs, back to the closet, opened it, and drug Mark out of it. He was now a shadow of his former self. He was skinny, pale, his clothes were dirty and torn, and he was covered in blood. Cletus covered himself in the symbiote again.

"Guess what, Mark?" asked Carnage as he held his hand out.

"No...no more..." Mark tried to get up and run, but Carnage grabbed him by the face and slammed the back of his head into the floor.

"Your turn..." said Carnage.

  
  


END OF CHAPTER TWO


	3. Encounter

CHAPTER THREE: Encounter

  
  


"You're nothing! You hear me? Nothing!" a man screamed as he slapped his wife for the third time.

"Daddy, don't hit Mommy! Stop, Dad, stop!" a little boy screamed as he tugged at his father's rugged arm.

Suddenly the arm swung, and the back of the fist struck the boy soundly below his eye. The boy hit the ground and slid for about three feet before hitting a coffee table. The lamp that sat on the table fell and hit the ground one inch from the boy's head. It then shattered.

"Stay out of this, Cletus," the man said.

"For the love of God, stop this now!" the man's wife yelled. 

He proceeded to punch her in the throat.

"Don't you tell me what to do, bitch! I'm a grown man, you understand? You better learn to stay in your place, woman. You're nothing, and Cletus will probably be nothing just like you if you keep coddling him. I'm gonna raise him to be a real man," the man said.

"You wouldn't have to hit me if you were a real man!" the woman screamed.

The man proceeded to grab her by the throat and slam the back of her head against the wall. He then drug her up the stairs by her hair, and soon young Cletus could hear a door slamming. After hearing the sounds of a fist making contact with a face, he could hear his mother's screams from upstairs.

"Get off of me! Let go!" the woman screamed.

"Shut the hell up and take it like the whore that you are," the man replied.

Cletus could feel tears forming in his eyes. Running upstairs, he opened the bedroom door and saw his father on top of his mother.

"Leave my mom alone!" screamed Cletus.

"You little piece of shit, you best get out of here if you know what's good for you!" the man yelled back.

Cletus grabbed a nearby chair and broke it over his father's back. After a moment of hesitation, the father grunted, turned, and punched Cletus square in the jaw. Cletus fell back once again.

"Alright, boy, you wanna be a man? Come on, and I'll show you how to be a man. Come on, Cletus, take a swing at your old man," the man challenged.

Cletus rose to his feet, and then rose his arm, but he did not punch.

"Come on, boy, be a man!" the man screamed.

"Fine," replied Cletus.

Cletus's arm then changed to black and red, and a spear shot from it and into his father's heart. And then...

"Mom! Dad! No!" screamed Cletus as he shot up in the bed.

Looking around, Cletus surveyed his surroundings. He was in the bedroom of the Johnson residence, with Michelle Johnson, whom he had raped repeatedly, still tied to the bed beside him. It was four in the morning, and yet she was not asleep. The few times that she did drift off to sleep, it was only for a few minutes, and then she would wake up again to find her husband's killer in the bed beside her. However, when she looked at him now, she did not see the murderer who ruined the lives of her entire family. She now saw pain in his eyes. When he noticed her looking at him, his face instantly reverted to the insanity that she recognized.

"What are you looking at?" Cletus said coldly.

"Nothing," she replied quietly, and turned her head away.

Cletus rose from the bed and walked down to the kitchen. Just outside of the kitchen, little Amber Johnson was still tied to a chair, but she was asleep. She was only eleven years old, and the entire ordeal had her exhausted. Cletus walked past her into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the refrigerator. After downing about a third of the bottle, he stared down at the bottle with disdain. He remembered his parents, and how they solved every problem with liquor. A low growl began to form in his throat, and it elevated into a scream as he angrily hurled the bottle at the far wall. The loud crash of the bottle caused Amber to wake up. She immediately found herself staring into Cletus's hate-filled eyes.

Her instincts told her to lower her eyes, but Cletus grabbed her by the chin and forced her to stare into his eyes.

"Like what you see?" asked Cletus.

Amber did not reply. Instead, she began to cry.

"You don't have anything to cry about, kid. Look at you. Your parents are loaded. You got a nice house, and your mom and dad don't beat you on a daily basis just as a way to pass the time!" Cletus screamed into the little girl's face. "You...you don't know how good you have it...well, now you will know. What, you think I'm wrong for killing your dad? You think I'm wrong for killing your little brother? Bitch, you have no idea..."

Just then, the front door opened slowly, and in walked Mark. His body was covered with dirt and blood, and his eyes were blank, like a zombie.

"Hey, you're back! How'd it go?" asked Cletus.

Mark did not reply.

"No kiddin'!" exclaimed Cletus. "Well, the news comes on in an hour, so I guess that's when I get my status report on your night out."

*******

The next morning, Mr. Parker's homeroom was unusually quiet. Many of the students sat and stared at the floor. Jennifer glanced at the clock on the wall, wondering when her teacher would arrive.

"Jenny, you okay?" asked Jackie.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm okay. I'm just wondering if Mr. Parker heard what happened last night. I wonder where he is," said Jennifer.

What she didn't know was that minutes earlier, her teacher, who would normally be wearing a shirt and tie, was instead a few blocks away and wearing red and blue tights. Mr. Parker was not battling traffic on his way to work. No, instead he was battling a big guy in a rhino suit.

The Rhino had been attempting to kill Spider-Man for the last twenty minutes, but he had not landed a single punch.

"Dude, cut it out, you're making me late for work!" said Spider-Man as he dodged a punch and leapt onto a lightpole.

"I'm really gonna do it this time, Spider-Man! I'm really gonna kill you this time!" yelled the Rhino.

"That's what you said last time. And the time before that. And the time before that. And so on and so forth..."

"This time's different, wallcrawler!"

"Oh, please. You and the whole Sucktacular Six couldn't beat me."

Peter fired a webline at another lightpole that was a few feet away. Then, after tugging on it, he swung and planted both feet squarely into Rhino's jaw. The blow stunned the big man, which bought Peter a few seconds. A Volkswagen sat nearby. Peter prepared himself, and lifted the car above his head. Finally he waited for Rhino to turn around.

"Hey Rhino," called Spider-Man.

The Rhino groggily turned around.

"Catch," said Spider-Man as he slammed the car on top of his adversary.

Spider-Man stepped back. If Rhino was going to get back up, he wouldn't know how to put him down again so quickly. The guy with the horn on his head did get back up, with steam blowing from each nostril. Rhino lifted a fist into the air, but then it slowly lowered. His eyes rolled back, and his massive body crashed into the ground at Spider-Man's feet.

It was at that moment that Peter noticed a neon clock that was on the side of a nearby bank. 

8:27

Peter leapt into the air, fired a webline, and swung to the school as fast as he could.

"Crap crap crap crap crap" said Peter.

And so, just as Jennifer was wondering where her teacher was, Mr. Parker came through the door.

"Morning, class," Peter said.

Everybody in the class was quiet.

"What's wrong?" asked Peter.

"Mr. Parker, more people got killed last night," said Kyra.

"They were killed the same way that the guys were killed last week," said Sharia.

"Oh...does anybody know where this happened?" asked Peter.

"Um...somebody was killed on my block," a girl in the back said.

"Really? Tell us, Crystal," said Peter.

"My neighbor, Mr. James, was killed. Somebody broke into his house and...his daughter told me that whoever did it had slit his throat and...and..." Crystal lowered her head.

"That's alright, Crystal. Anybody else know anything?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, this girl was killed outside of the Knicks game last night," a boy in the class said.

"A guy who owned a corner store was killed too," another boy said.

After a few more students told their stories, there were a total of eighteen victims.

"Mr. Parker, do you think it could be one of those...you know, those supervillains that Spider-Man is always fighting?" asked Jennifer.

"I'm not entirely sure what to think. What I can say is, the safest thing to do is stay around people you trust. When you're walking home, walk with friends. Be with your family. Don't walk around alone, especially at night. Look out for each other," said Peter.

The bell rang. The students slowly rose and filed out of the room.

"For those of you who have me for Chemistry, I'll see you later. Everyone else, be safe, and anybody come to me if you need to," said Peter.

A few students nodded or said their thanks, and eventually Jennifer was the only one left.

"You okay, Jen?" asked Peter.

"Mr. Parker...my brother is missing," said Jennifer.

"Steve? I thought he was getting his act together," said Peter.

Peter remembered when Jennifer's brother had overdosed and nearly died, but, as Spider-Man, he had gotten Steve to a hospital just in time. 

"I don't think it has anything to do with drugs. Not unless Shade came back..." said Jennifer.

Peter remembered Shade well. He was an enforcer for a gang that held its territory in Jennifer's neighborhood. But Shade was gone, after being defeated by Spider-Man in the Astral Plane.

"I don't know what to think, Mr. Parker. Whoever's been killing people this last week, I think that he may have killed Steve..."

"You don't know that, Jenny. Try to keep your head up about this," said Peter.

"I'll try," said Jennifer as she left the room.

Peter watched sadly as his student left the room. It was killing him that even his alter ego couldn't help her. At least, not yet. He started wondering about the man who he had battled with the previous day, and the mysterious red spike that flew from his head after the fight. After school, he would leave and track the signal of his Spider-Tracer. Maybe something would turn up.

*******

The body of a young man lay in an alley. 

His body had been there for a little over a day.

Rats gnawed at his corpse.

Worms and roaches crawled over his body.

There was a large wound in his chest. Something that had been carved in.

His name was Steven Hardesty.

He was Jennifer's brother.

And his eyes had just opened...

*******

Peter could feel the vibration of his cell phone as he left the school. He took it from his pocket, looked at the number on the screen, and then answered.

"Home of the whopper, what's your beef?" said Peter.

"Peter?" Aunt May was obviously confused.

"Sorry, Aunt May, I knew it was you. What's up?" asked Peter.

"Oh, I just wanted to know if you were still coming over for dinner tonight," said May.

"Oh, yeah, about that, I may be a little late."

"Why is that?"

"Uh...I gotta...work late..."

"Peter, no. You can't possibly be thinking of doing what I think you're doing."

"I just have to follow a lead, Aunt May."

"Have you been watching the news lately? Or reading the paper? I don't want you to go out and get yourself killed!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Well, at least call me every ten minutes to let me know you're okay."

"I would, but I tend to keep it turned off when I'm...uh...wearing my other hat."

"Peter, I..."

"Aunt May?"

"Just make sure you get here, young man."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I love you, Peter."

"I love you too, Aunt May."

Peter pocketed the phone. He felt awful for worrying his aunt the way that he did. Even now that she knew his secret, it didn't make things that much easier for him. Pushing that thought aside, Peter walked into an alley, changed his clothes, and began his journey.

It wasn't long before Peter found himself at a suburban home, where Captain Payne was just leaving. The captain got into his car and drove. Spider-Man carefully and stealthily followed the car for a few blocks. Eventually it stopped. Peter knew where they were: the morgue. 

The captain walked through the halls, with Spider-Man trailing him. Eventually Captain Payne stepped into a room where there were several people talking. All of the people were standing over a body. Rather than go through the door, which would have been stupid, Spider-Man instead worked his way through a ventilation shaft and listened from above.

"So, we get any I.D. on this clown?" asked Captain Payne.

"His name's Johnathan Johnson," a man in medical scrubs replied.

"And who is he?" asked Payne.

Spider-Man listened for awhile as the people inside spoke about the deceased man's information. He made note of a few things. Most importantly were his wife and children, who nobody had seen for about a week. Eventually, he heard something that was very important: an address. The family's home was in Queens, not far from where Aunt May lived. Spider-Man had to investigate.

"I'm going to organize a search. I'll personally be going to this house to check things out," said Captain Payne.

"It could take quite some time to get a search warrant," another cop said.

"I know, but I have a special interest in this. This guy killed one of my men, and I'm just slightly curious as to what that thing was that flew out of his head," said Payne.

The captain may have planned upon visiting the house, but Spider-Man would get there first.

*******

Michelle lay on the bed alongside her daughter Amber. The mother and daughter were both tied up in the bed, with Cletus pacing back and forth above them. They were both very thin and pale, as Cletus only fed them enough to keep them both alive so he could continue to torture them, but now he grew tired of the game. Night had fallen upon the house. The only light in the bedroom came from the T.V. The previous night's murders were all over the news, and only Cletus knew that it had been Mark who had killed all of those people. 

"Alright, I've made my decision," Cletus said at one point.

He pointed a finger at Michelle.

"I'm sick of raping you. It's just not fun anymore," said Cletus.

He then pointed a finger at Amber.

"I'm sick of hearing you cry and whine."

The symbiote covered Cletus's body. His right arm formed into a curved blade.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe," he recited while moving the blade back and forth between Amber and Michelle.

"Chop off Venom's pinky toe, if he hollers gut him so, eenie meenie miney..."

The blade stopped on Amber.

"...moe."

"No!" screamed Michelle.

"Yes..."

Just as Carnage rose the blade into the air, he heard a thumping sound downstairs. Running to the top of the stairs, he saw where the noise came from.

******

Ten seconds earlier...

Spider-Man very cautiously opened the first door window and climbed in. His Spider-Sense buzzed the second he stepped in. Before he could react, somebody grabbed him by the shoulders, turned, and through him against the far wall. His body hit the wall with a thump. Reaching up, he hit a light switch and got a good look at his attacker.

"Mark?" 

Mark did not reply. Instead, he leapt forward and clamped both hands over Spider-Man's throat. Peter rolled back, pressed both feet into Mark's abdomen, and monkey-flipped him head-first into the wall. Mark's body went into the wall and he hung there. The second he came out of the wall, he turned and kicked Spider-Man hard in the chest. Spider-Man flew back, flipped, and landed on his feet. Before he could continue fighting, something snaked down the nearby stairs. Before he could react to his Spider-Sense, several symbiotic tendrils wrapped around his arms and legs. One in particular wrapped around his throat and squeezed it tight.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise!" said Carnage.

"Carnage...should have known..." said Spider-Man.

"Hey, Mark, wanna have some real fun? Prove to me that my experiment worked!" said Carnage.

Carnage formed a knife from his symbiote and tossed it to Mark. Mark caught it and advanced upon his prey.

"I want you to gut Spider-Man!" ordered Carnage.

  
  


END OF CHAPTER THREE


	4. Tiny Victory

I'm only writing that stupid-ass disclaimer once. If you corporate bastards didn't see it, get some friggin' glasses.

  
  


CHAPTER FOUR: Tiny Victory

  
  


"Carnage, what have you done?" asked Spider-Man.

"Quiet! Corpses aren't aloud to talk!" replied Carnage.

Mark advanced upon Spider-Man and rose the knife. Suddenly, a web flew right into his eyes. With the hand with which he shot the web, Peter fired another web, caught the knife, and pulled it back. He twirled the blade in his hand so that it was upside-down, and then he jabbed it into the tendril that held him. Carnage's grip slowly loosened, and then Peter began to cut away at it until he had gotten his arms free. Carnage still had him by the waste and legs, though.

"Hey!" exclaimed Carnage as he hurled Spider-Man into a wall.

Peter's body hit the wall. Before he could recover, Mark had already torn the webbing from his eyes and had pounced upon Peter. They grappled for awhile, and the stalemate was finally ended with a left to the stomach and a right to the jaw from Spider-Man. Mark stumbled backwards, and Spider-Man immediately jumped at him with a flurry of punches and kicks. Mark swung back, but Peter ducked below his fist, crouched down low, and shot back up with a powerful uppercut to the jugular. Mark flew through the window and landed outside. Spider-Man then turned to face Carnage.

"What's the deal this time, Kasady?" asked Spider-Man.

"Well, it was supposed to be a little experiment, but apparently it was a failure so it's time to send the old prototype to the scrap heap," said Carnage.

Carnage held his hand out. Mark stood up while screaming and shaking. Suddenly, a red spike flew from his head. Spider-Man ducked beneath it, and it flew into Carnage's hand. Mark's body hit the ground.

"What have you done to him?" asked Spider-Man.

"Obviously, I killed him. Oh yeah, and I took over his body and made him my killing puppet," replied Carnage.

"Just like that man I fought the other day."

"Yup, same guy. In fact, I made him kill his own son," said Carnage.

"What?" Spider-Man said, surprised.

"Oh yeah. It was brutal stuff. But you know the best part? I left his wife and daughter alive, and I fed them a little bit, you see. You wanna know what I fed them? I ground the kid's remains into the food..."

Spider-Man immediately leapt into the air and slammed his fists into Carnage's face and throat.

"You monster! How could you?" exclaimed Spider-Man as he pummeled Carnage.

Suddenly, Carnage's hand grew into a large claw and wrapped around Peter's throat. He lifted Peter into the air, turned, and slammed him into a wall.

"The fun doesn't stop there, Web Man! I'm gonna go kill the bitch and her kid right now!" said Carnage.

Suddenly Spider-Man's feet slammed into Carnage's face. Carnage stumbled backwards.

"I won't allow you to harm these people anymore, Kasady!" said Spider-Man.

"Watch me!" Carnage immediately ran down the hall to the master bedroom.

Spider-Man ran after Carnage. He could hear Amber and Michelle screaming for help as Carnage rose his axe-shaped hand above them. He immediately dove and tackled the killer, and the two rolled on the ground. Carnage kicked Spider-Man off of him and swung the axe hand. The attack cut a deep wound in Spider-Man's arm. Peter howled in pain, but his scream was halted by a fist to his face. He fell back and hit the window. Carnage held his arms forward and formed several spikes which protruded from them. He ran forward with the intention of impaling Peter. Instinctively, Spider-Man jumped into the air and stuck to the ceiling. Carnage stopped himself just short of the window, but Spider-Man dropped and drove both feet into Carnage's back on the way down. Carnage flew through the window and fell to the ground below. Peter rose and looked out of the window, but the killer was nowhere to be found.

'Damn...either he ran, or he's planning a sneak attack...better follow my gut instinct,' thought Peter.

That instinct, of course, was the protection of innocents. Peter ran to the bed and untied Amber first. Then he untied Michelle. The mother and daughter embraced each other, with Spider-Man watching. His heart was heavy with grief, but also a small bit of relief. When Amber and Michelle released each other, Amber then turned to Peter and hugged him. He was surprised, but he returned the hug. He cradled her in his arms while rocking back and forth. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling. The police burst into the room.

"Freeze!" commanded Captain Payne.

"Captain, please..." Spider-Man pleaded without turning to face the captain.

The captain surveyed the situation, and then he had the other policemen lower their weapons. The room was quiet except for the sounds of Michelle and Amber's weeping, and Spider-Man, quietly telling Amber that she would be alright.

******

May Parker jabbed sadly with her fork at the roast pork and potatoes that sat on her plate. There was an empty seat on the other side of the table, with an empty plate, and unused silverware sitting beside it. May sighed sadly at the realization that her nephew would not be arriving to dine with her that evening.

Or so she thought...

The doorbell rang. May went to the door.

"Who is it?" asked May.

"Peter," Peter replied.

It immediately struck May that Peter did not reply with a joke. He simply said his name. May opened the door. Peter stood in the doorway, wearing a black turtleneck with blue jeans and black sneakers.

"Hey, Aunt May, sorry I'm late," said Peter.

"I'm just glad to see you made it. I hope you're hungry," said May as she ushered her nephew into the house.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Then...

"So, how did it go?" asked May.

"How did what go?" asked Peter.

"You said you had a lead to follow, right? How did it go?"

"Oh, that...it...went well, I guess..."

"You guess?"

"Uh...yeah..."

Peter wanted to spare his aunt the gory details. How would she react to what had happened that night?

"I was watching the news today. They said you were fighting that man in the rhino costume this morning," said May.

"Oh, yeah I was..." replied Peter.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, he didn't lay a finger on me."

"Peter, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Aunt May."

"Really? You couldn't tell by looking at that bruise on your neck."

"What bruise?"

Peter rose and ran to a mirror. He had hoped that the turtleneck would hide the bruise, but alas, it didn't.

"Take off your shirt, Peter," said May.

"Excuse me?"

"Take off your shirt," she repeated.

Peter hesitated and thought over the situation. With a sigh he rose the shirt over his head and pulled it off. May immediately gasped and ran to her nehpew.

"My God..." May exclaimed.

Peter's body was ridden with bruises. His left arm, in particular, had taken a lot of damage. He had his arm wrapped in a bandage. The blood could be seen through it.

"Peter, what happened?" asked May.

"Aunt May....I..." Peter stopped.

"Tell me!" demanded May.

Peter sighed and sat down on the couch. May sat beside him.

"Did you hear the story of the man who killed a policeman last week? A guy that I fought downtown?" asked Peter.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, he was...possessed..."

"By what?"

".....Carnage."

The name sent a shiver down May's spine. She remembered how her nephew had been hurt during the riots that Carnage had caused, although at the time, she hadn't known that he had been injured as Spider-Man.

"Carnage," Peter continued, "Had broken into the man's home. He...he planted something in his head that took control of his body, and he had the man kill his own son."

"My Lord..."

"And then...I had to fight the man. He ended up being killed. Well, I did some investigating and went to his house. When I got there, I saw this kid from my school. Carnage did the same thing to him, and I had to fight him too."

"Were you hurt?"

"Just a little. Well, Carnage was at the house. He killed the kid, and then we fought. He held the man's wife and daughter captive the entire time. After we fought, he ran. I later found out that he had been raping the man's wife and torturing them both."

"That's horrible...but...at least you were able to put an end to it, right?"

"I guess, but...why couldn't I have been there sooner?"

"You had no idea this was going on, Peter."

"You know, when I looked into that little girl's eyes, all I saw was pain. And I just...I wanted to kill Carnage at that moment. That beautiful little girl...the pain she went through...it's just not fair...It's not fair!"

May held Peter firmly. He sunk his head into her shoulder and wept.

"It's not fair...why must this happen? I could have been there...it's just like...just like Uncle Ben...I wasn't there..."

May held her nephew and rocked back and forth. Eventually, Peter fell asleep in her arms.

*******

Steven Hardesty was busy walking down a dark alley. He had nowhere in particular to go, he was just walking. Eventually, a sound caught his attention.

Not too far away, a woman's scream could be heard. A man with a knife threw a woman to the ground and then straddled her.

"Please, don't hurt me," the woman pleaded.

"Yeah, slut, keep beggin'...that kinda shit turns me on," the mugger said.

That's when the would-be rapist saw Steve out of the corner of his eye.

"Get lost," he said.

Steve said nothing back. He only stepped closer.

"What are you, retarded? Get the fuck outta here!" he demanded.

Steve only came closer.

The man rose and swung his knife. It caught Steve at the eye and flung it far away. Steve's left eye landed six feet away. He barely flinched. The woman screamed in horror at the sight. As for the attacker, he just stared in shock at the now cyclopean Steve. Steve grabbed the mugger by the throat and rose him into the air. He drove his other hand into the man's chest, and when he pulled his hand back out, the heart came with it. Steve dropped the body to the ground.

The woman on the ground stared at the sight of a now heartless body on the ground. Before she could speak, Steve took her hand and rose her to her feet. Then, he grabbed her by the throat and tore it out. Her body hit the ground.

Steve continued walking, with nowhere in particular to go.

  
  


END OF CHAPTER FOUR


	5. A Message

CHAPTER FIVE: A Message

  
  


Peter Parker sat in the middle of an aisle in a crowded movie theater. To his right were several screaming children. To his left was a rather large and foul-smelling individual. The large individual repeatedly spilled popcorn on Peter, while the children screamed directly in his ear.

It was Friday, February 14th, 2003. Another term for this day would be Valentine's Day. Of course, Valentine's Day was a celebration of love for most people. For poor Peter, however, it was simply the day that he went to the movies to see the highly anticipated film, "Dareangel". 

The hero onscreen was a deaf-mute, wearing pink tights with white frilly wings on the back. He was busy fighting the movie's badguy, Ratsass. Ratsass was busy throwing flaming feces at our hero, who dodged the fiery crap effortlessly. Then Dareangel tossed Ratsass through a window. Ratsass fell several stories before falling into a nearby car's sunroof.

"That's it, I'm outta here," said Peter as he rose and left the theater.

Peter found himself walking home with his head hung low. This day he was not his vibrant self. Aside from the nasty business with Carnage, Peter still had to go home to an empty house. He walked very slowly, and he barely noticed his Spider-Sense when a man approached him from the side.

"Gimme yer' wallet," the man demanded.

"You don't want it. There's no money in it," Peter replied without looking up. He continued walking.

"You think I'm playin', punk? I said gimme yer' wallet, now!" 

The man lunged at Peter. Peter simply swatted him away with the back of his open hand.

"Shoo," said Peter.

The would-be assailant flew into a nearby alley. It would be twenty minutes before he regained consciousness.

********

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" screamed Carnage.

He was hiding in an abandoned warehouse, knowing very well that the police would be looking for him. Not that he couldn't slaughter the lot of them, but fighting the cops would only complicate his plan. Carnage needed to think up another plan. He needed to unwind. He needed to relax.

"Mark, fetch me a beer!" Carnage screamed over his shoulder. Then he scratched his head in thought. "Wait, I killed him..."

Carnage sat against a wall and let his mask retract. He looked to the sky, as if searching for guidance.

"Well, what now, Ma? I don't wanna fail again. I'm really tryin' this time. I had the whole plan set up. But then Spider-Man got involved...AGAIN! I don't even have that stupid flunkie Mark anymore. So now what?"

Carnage lowered his head. Thoughts circulated throughout his mind. Eventually he would fall asleep. And when he awoke in the morning, he would continue to think.

*********

The next morning, Jennifer woke up around 9 o' clock. She walked outside of her building to take in the morning air. As soon as she stepped outside, however, she felt a chill. She was about to step back into the building when something caught her eye. She saw three people fighting down the street. This was nothing new to her, but what astonished her was the result of the fight.

It was two on one. The smaller attacker lunged at his victim's knee and bit into it. The taller attacker grabbed the victim's left arm and tore it out. Then he grabbed the victim's face, and a second later the victim began to shake. Then his body hit the ground. Seconds later he would rise to his feet alongside his attackers. They all turned toward Jennifer, with the tallest one leading. As they moved toward her, Jennifer came to recognize the tallest one.

"Steve?" Jenny asked.

Her brother showed no signs of comprehending. He only moved toward her with increasing speed. Instinctively, Jennifer turned and ran down the street. Steve stopped, turned, and walked into the building, with his partners close behind him. There were several homeless teens that would make good victims for the trio.

*********

Spider-Man was busy moving between the various buildings of New York City, using only his hands and feet. He had gotten so good at this, he really didn't need any weblines to dash between these buildings, which were all very close to each other. He stayed in the shadows while staring down at the street below, searching for any criminal activity to put a stop to. There wasn't anything important, though. That is, until he came upon one block in particular.

A group of teenagers were treading down the street. They moved in an almost zombie-like manner. Peter decided to investigate, so he lowered himself to the ground while still staying in the shadows. Eventually he reached the ground. The group of kids, which was a total of twelve, stopped as they passed the alley that he was in. One of them turned toward the alley and leapt into it. Spider-Man leapt over him and landed on his feet outside of the alley.

'How'd he know I was there?' wondered Spider-Man.

"Any particular reason you're trying to hug me, buddy? Valentine's Day was yesterday. Love ain't free no more," said Spider-Man.

Suddenly Peter felt a tingle on the back of his neck. He ducked and avoided a punch from another of the teens. Soon all of them had converged upon Spider-Man. He managed to break free of the crowd and leapt over them. He landed on top of a nearby car.

"Celebrity status sure has its downfalls. Everybody wants a piece of..." Spider-Man stopped and stared at one of the teens. It was a girl, and her eyes had a blank look to them. The same look that was in Mark's eyes.

"No way..." Peter said aloud.

Suddenly the group pounced on Spider-Man and beat him to the ground. Fists, feet, and nails all made contact with him. Peter rose both hands and managed to knock a few of them away, but they stayed on him. Eventually he fired a webline to a nearby building and yanked himself into the air. He landed on the building and climbed to the top. Then he stopped and stared down. The teens all watched him go, and then they continued walking down the street in search of more victims.

Peter looked down on himself. Parts of his uniform were ripped, and the cold February air was getting to him. He needed to think. Peter leapt from the building, fired a webline, and began his journey back to his apartment.

*******

Carnage was still deep in thought. He was pacing back and forth in the abandoned building. His plan, and its subsequent failure, was still fresh in his mind. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

Carnage looked in the direction of the noise. There were three people, each of them slowly shuffling towards him. Carnage's right hand formed a mace while his left formed a long pitchfork.

"What, are you crazier than I am?" Carnage exclaimed.

The three people didn't answer. They only continued moving forward.

"Your funeral," Carnage said smugly.

His pitchfork arm impaled one of the assailants. His mace arm decapitated the other two. Their bodies hit the ground quickly. That's when it happened...

The bodies shook for a few moments. Then, suddenly, their foreheads tore open, and red spikes protruded from each of them. The spikes all flew into Carnage's symbiote. Carnage stared down at himself, and then at the bodies. Then, a devilish grin crept across his face. He looked up into the sky and smiled.

"Thanks, Mom..."

  
  


END OF CHAPTER FIVE


	6. Emergency

CHAPTER SIX: Emergency

  
  


'I hate sewing...man I hate sewing...if I ever found out who invented sewing...I'd sew the fly on their pants shut...that oughta teach'em,' thought Peter as he finished sewing up his torn costume.

It was a long and arduous process, but Peter's costume was finally ready to be presented once again to the world. Peter continued to ponder about what had gone on earlier in the day.

'Gotta admit, I'm just slightly curious as to how a group of teenagers were able to put up such a good fight. Wait, maybe that's the wrong term...beat the hell out of me. Yeah, that seems about right,' thought Peter. 'I've only got a hunch as to what it was, but I'm gonna have to find some concrete evidence to make the connection.'

Peter placed his costume on his bed. Consumed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the pair of scissors that were sitting on his nightstand until he bumped them off. The scissors fell and embedded themselves into the spider on the chest of the costume. Peter stared down at his costume in disbelief. He hastily approached his closet.

"Nuts to this. Where's that Bag-Man costume?" Peter asked himself aloud.

*******

"I...I can feel it...there are so many of them...so many of them that I can control..." Carnage said to himself out loud.

Carnage was standing in the center of the warehouse with a wide grin on his face. He could feel all of the people that his symbiote had possessed. He could detect their movements. He knew exactly what they were doing, who they were killing, and how many more spawns of his symbiote that were being produced. It was like ecstacy, to feel so many different things at once. But there was one sensation that outweighed them all. Carnage could feel death. And it was exhilarating.

The chaos, the onslaught, the mayhem, the death...all of it was flowing into his body in a wave, almost like an orgasm. Carnage only stood and smiled as he took in all of the pleasure, all of the sensations. And it was only being amplified with every passing moment. Every time another person died, every time another spawn of his symbiote was created, every time he had claimed another victim, Carnage could feel it. The riots he had caused were nothing compared to this. This truly would be maximum carnage.

*******

Peter, in a once-again fully sewn version of his costume, was swinging through the steel canyons of New York City with his eyes focused downward. He was busy looking for any suspicious goings-on, and possible clues to help his hypothesis as to what had happened with those teens that he fought the previous day. In a way, Peter was disappointed that he hadn't seen any activity. Not to say that there wasn't any, there were just a few things that he had overlooked. For instance, in an alley that Spider-Man happened to swing over, a young man was busy ripping out the throat of another young man. A few blocks away, two more people were being possessed. It wasn't until Spider-Man stopped at a bus stop that he managed to catch somebody. An elderly woman was waiting patiently for her bus, when a younger woman suddenly stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her by the throat. A red spike protruded from the girl's hand and prepared to strike at the old woman. That's when a pair of red boots slammed into the girl's back. The girl hit the ground, and then turned to face Spider-Man.

"Interesting way to help a senior citizen cross the street," spat Spider-Man. "Let me show you how I do it."

Peter fired a web at the girl and yanked on it. The girl flew several feet before slamming into a concrete wall. She immediately turned back to Spider-Man. She lunged at Peter, who dodged a series of swipes from her. When she went for the throat, Peter used her own momentum to pull her back, rolled onto his back, pressed his feet into her abdomen, and monkey-flipped her several feet away. The girl landed in the middle of the street. Peter turned to the old woman.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" asked Peter.

The old woman did not reply. Instead she turned and swung an open hand at Peter in an attempt to scratch him. He was just able to react to his Spider-Sense in the nick of time and jumped back to avoid the attack.

'Damn...too late..' thought Peter.

Looking up, Spider-Man could see the girl standing up in the middle of the street. A car was coming toward her, and the driver hadn't noticed her until it was too late. He honked his horn and screamed for her to get out of the way, but instead she lunged at his windshield. Her body crashed through the windshield, and then she grabbed his face. Peter watched in shock as the car swerved and watched it slam directly into a wall. Seconds later, both occupants arose from the car and advanced upon Spider-Man. Instinctively, Peter jumped to a nearby wall and climbed to the top of the building. This was becoming a serious problem, and he only knew of one person to turn to for help.

********

Captain Payne was on his way out of the door to go to work. Just as he approached the door, his wife stopped him. She sighed and glared at his tie, which was tied very loosely around his neck as opposed to actually being tied correctly.

"Jackson, for the hundredth time, would you fix your tie? Why would you just let it hang like that?" asked Gloria, his wife.

"But Denzel Washington does it..." Payne replied in a whining voice.

"If Denzel Washington jumped off of a bridge, would you?" she asked.

"Wish I was Denzel..." Payne muttered as he held his head up for his wife to fix his tie.

"There, you look much better. Don't you feel better?"

"Not entirely."

Gloria leaned over and planted her lips upon her husband's.

"I repeat: Do you feel better?" she asked.

"I might need more persuasion..."

Just as the husband and wife were about to kiss again, their ten-year old son, Chris, entered the room.

"Ewww!" Chris exclaimed.

"Ewww yourself," replied Captain Payne. He grabbed a pillow off of the nearby couch and threw it at his son. Gloria only sighed.

"Don't you have to go to work?" said Gloria with a smile.

"Yeah..." replied Payne. He really sounded like he didn't want to go. "I'll call you later."

The husband and wife kissed briefly again.

"I love you," said Payne.

"I love you, too," replied Gloria.

Captain Payne turned to his son.

"Don't destroy the house while I'm gone," he said.

"Yes, sir!" replied Chris as he saluted his father.

Captain Payne saluted his son and smiled, and then he made his way outside. He stepped into his car and prepared to drive. After placing the key in the ignition and starting the engine, he waited for a second and began to mull over everything that had been going on lately. He didn't want to say anything to his wife, but at the moment, the authorities were busy searching for Carnage. If there was anything his wife and child didn't need to know, it was that one of the city's most notorious murderers was running loose yet again. On top of that, there was also the string of disappearances that had occurred over the last few days. It didn't seem like anything Carnage would do. After all, he wasn't really one to conceal his victims. He liked to take credit for every kill. The people who had gone missing had been literally that: missing. No signs of bodies or anything like that.

By the time Captain Payne had come back to his senses, he realized that he had been sitting and thinking for about ten minutes. He was about to begin driving when he heard a thump on the roof of his car. Drawing his gun, he quickly stepped out of the car and aimed at the roof. To his surprise, there was nothing there. He eventually lowered back into his car and began driving. A few seconds later, he heard a voice.

"To the airport, Alfred," said Spider-Man from the back seat.

"What do you want?" asked Payne, who was eyeing Spidey in the rear-view mirror.

"To be properly chauffeured," replied Peter.

"I don't like repeating myself."

"I gotta talk to you about something."

"So, talk."

"Buy me a hot dog first."

"Are you insane?"

"I wear red and blue tights, don't I? Now buy me a hot dog. From Papaya King. Then we'll talk."

"I...I..."

Several minutes later Captain Payne and Spider-Man were sitting on the hood of his car in an alley, eating hot dogs, with Captain Payne drinking a Coke, and Spider-Man drinking a Cherry Coke.

"Ya know, you really should try Cherry Coke instead of that classic stuff," commented Spider-Man.

"What is the point of all this?" asked Captain Payne.

"That Cherry Coke tastes better than..."

"You know what I mean."

"Alright, listen...I need your help with this Carnage situation."

"This 'Carnage Situation' is none of your concern."

"Yes, it is. Look, we both need to catch Carnage as quickly as possible, because whatever he did to that man I fought the other day, he's still doing it to other people."

"And you know this how?"

"Admittedly, it's just a hunch."

"NYPD doesn't operate on hunches, you know? We want concrete facts, and we prefer to get said facts from people who are not afraid to reveal their identity."

"If you were suddenly given powers, but ran the risk of the whole world hating you because they thought you were a mutant, would you just let the world know?"

"Honestly, I'd probably try to make money from it."

Peter fell silent for a second and looked to the ground.

"Bad idea. Trust me on that," said Peter.

"I'll take your word for it. So let's say for a second that Carnage is still active. What exactly do you think he's doing?"

"I think he's found a way to control people. Kinda like his own personal zombies."

"You mean the way he controlled that man?"

"Exactly. You did an autopsy of him, right?"

"As far as we could tell, there was a bit of residue left around the brainstem, and the residue came from a living organism, but whatever it was wasn't human."

"It must have been from his symbiote. But I thought he only did this once..."

"You mean to tell me that there are more people walking around like that Johnson guy?"

"It seems that way. I've met a few people who seem to fit the same profile."

"Well, I'll be honest with you, Spider-Man, that's all we really know about it. Aside from that, our main priority is to find Carnage."

"Then it seems that we have a common goal. Still, I'd be careful. Carnage can be pretty unpredictable."

"Spider-Man, I was a lieutenant on the force back when Carnage started those riots. I've seen things you couldn't imagine. I think I know how to handle him."

"Not until you've faced him in combat can you begin to truly understand the way he operates, Captain. Trust me, your men can't handle Carnage alone."

"And you can?"

"I believe I can."

"And if you can't?"

"I can."

"What makes you think my men can't handle him?" asked Captain Payne.

"When did this suddenly become '21 Questions'?" asked Spider-Man.

"You'll have to forgive me, but I don't appreciate people doubting the NYPD. We're the best in the world."

"And I'm the best there is at what I do, bub!"

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Not at all." Peter finished the hot dog and drink and tossed them into a nearby dumpster. Then he arose. "I'll be looking for Carnage myself. I suggest you check out my hunch and see if there's any credibility to it."

"We'll continue doing what we're doing, and if you insist upon searching for Carnage, then I expect you to share any information you have with me. Otherwise, don't even bother involving yourself in this situation."

"Understood. I'll be in contact if I need you."

With that, Spider-Man leapt to the wall of a nearby building.

"And how are you supposed to do that?" asked Payne.

"I can reach you. Trust me." Spider-Man climbed to the top of the building and hopped onto the roof. Even though he was out of sight, Payne could still hear him. "And drink Cherry Coke. It's good for you."

Payne almost smiled...almost. He continued sitting and thinking for a moment. After a couple of minutes, he heard a noise. Looking up, he could see five people slowly shuffling toward him. He could also hear something behind him. There were three people behind him. He stood up on the hood of his car. Before he could react, one of the people in front of him jumped onto his car. The assailant grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the nearby wall. Payne almost blacked out from the impact. As the one attacker was choking the life out of him, the other seven began to converge upon him...

  
  


END OF CHAPTER SIX


	7. The Takeover

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Takeover

  
  


His vision was getting blurry. Every desperate gasp for breath was for naught, and time was running out. The icy-cold hand was clamped around his throat, choking the life out of him. The other seven people, whoever they were, were all beginning to surround him. Captain Payne slammed his right fist into his attacker's chest, and then he threw a left jab to the right eye. His attacker didn't even flinch. He was running out of options. Payne reached into his holster and grabbed his weapon, and then he proceeded to lift it up and blow his attacker's head off.

Now it was one down and seven to go, and Payne barely managed to take out that one. He hopped off of his car and opened the driver's side door. Then, he jabbed the key into the ignition and prepared to pull off. While three of his would-be assailants were piled on top of his car, four of them stood behind it. The car started, and Payne backed it out of the alley, running over the three people behind him. He backed into the street, turned, and drove off.

Payne was sweating heavily and panting for breath at this point. He was so distracted that he did not notice the middle-aged man standing in the street. This middle-aged man happened to be holding a young woman up in the air by her throat. The old man turned and saw Payne's car coming right at him. The old man then proceeded to hurl the young woman's body at the car. The body crashed through the windshield and landed in the passenger's seat amongst blood and glass.

"Holy shit!" Payne screamed at the sight.

As if that weren't scary enough, the seemingly lifeless body had sprung to life, and was now swinging at Captain Payne. He felt sharp nails puncturing the skin on his right cheek. He swung his right arm in a backfist and broke the girl's nose, but she continued to attack. He tried another backfist, but the girl simply caught his hand in her teeth. Payne screamed in agony and pulled away until his hand was free, with blood oozing from the girl's mouth as a result. He then reached for his gun and aimed. However, he was not able to pull the trigger. The girl slapped his hand away, and the gun flew through the open windshield. After that, the girl clawed away at his body. Payne immediately reached and opened his door, and then he dove out of the vehicle as it moved. His body rolled on the ground violently, causing new scrapes and bruises to appear. By the time he had stopped rolling, his eardrums had been assaulted by the ruthless wail of a car's horn. His eyes met a pair of bright white lights, with a couple tons of steel placed behind it. Just as the car was about to strike him, he felt something lift him up. Payne found himself being carried out of harm's way and to the nearby sidewalk. He landed on his hands and knees, with a shadow looming over him. Somebody had just saved him from a dangerous situation.

"Spider-Man, what the hell is going..." Payne turned to face who he thought was the webslinging hero, but who instead turned out to be a person with a gaping wound in his stomach. Whoever the guy was, he had the same blank look as Payne's previous attackers.

Payne attempted to rise to his feet, but a swift punch to the face knocked him backwards before he could even stand. His body was slumped against the wall of a nearby building, and he was now in the very same predicament as before. He now knew what it meant when people said that one would jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. Before the assault could continue, Payne took off on foot, in the direction of the precinct where he worked.

*******

Spider-Man was in the middle of a big swing. He was at the bottom of the swing and was preparing to swing back up. He tugged on the webline and pulled himself high into the air. He propelled himself and allowed himself to freefall through the buildings. There was a flagpole below him, which he grabbed. He used his momentum to swing around the pole two times before finally releasing it and hurling himself back into the air. Upon reaching the apex of his flight, he fired another web at a building. His body followed the law of gravity and fell back to the earth, but like a bungee jumper, he allowed his body to bounce back up thanks to the web and fly straight into another freefall. This time he found himself falling into an alley. He let himself fall until a fire escape flew past him. Then he turned so that he was upside-down in midair and fired a webline at the fire escape. His body jerked, and he hung upside down in the alley. He was about to change his clothes when his Spider-Sense began to buzz lightly. Looking down, or up, depending on how you look at it, Peter could see a young girl running into the alley. She was panting heavily, and in between gasps for breath, Peter could hear her crying. Upon further inspection., Peter recognized who the girl was.

"Jenny? What's wrong?" asked Peter.

Jenny jumped at the voice and looked up. The voice sounded familiar and friendly. Shortly afterwards, she could see Spider-Man lowering from the shadows. He was upside-down, dangling about four feet off the ground from a webline.

"Oh my God...Spider-Man, I need your help. It's...it's Steve..." Jenny said in a raspy voice.

"Your brother? What's wrong with him?" asked Peter.

"Something happened to him...I don't know...But I saw him kill somebody. He was like...a zombie or something..."

"Did he have a really blank look in his eyes?"

"Eye."

"Say what?"

"He only had one eye."

"Jesus...when was this?"

"Yesterday. And there's more people like him. I've been trying to hide from them since then."

"Oh no..." Peter was silent. How was he going to explain to Jenny that her brother was already dead? 

"What?"

"Jenny, I'm not really sure how to tell you this but...let me just say, your brother is not responsible for what he's doing. It's just...he's really in a lot of danger right now."

"Can't you help him?"

"I can try. Are you hurt?"

"Not too bad. I'm just tired...and a little scared...okay, I'm really scared. I just don't know what's going on..."

"Me neither, Jenny. Me neither..."

"What am I supposed to do, Spider-Man? I mean...I actually had to watch people die...a lot of them...in just a day..."

Peter could recall the time when he had the same feeling. That day was September 11th. He was there, in the thick of it. He watched two-thousand people die in a matter of hours, and it was a pain that would never truly go away.

"I know what you mean, Jen. But you're a survivor. If anybody's gonna make it through this, it's you. But I gotta get you off the streets while I figure out what's going on." Spider-Man released his web and flipped to his feet. "I think I know where you'll be safe."

"Where's that?"

*********

Captain Payne stumbled through the front doors of the precinct. Upon entering, the first thing he noticed was that all of the lights in the building were off. Also, all of the blinds were closed. Only the smallest bit of sunlight managed to creep its way into the building. The exhausted captain turned to the nearest person to him. He could barely make out the face of the man who stood before him in the darkness.

"Jenkins, is that you? Jenkins?" asked Payne.

He reached for Jenkins's shoulder, and received a punch to the throat in return. Suddenly he could feel several fists and feet converging upon him. His body was being knocked around by countless assailants, until finally he lay still with blood leaking from his mouth and nose, with cuts and bruises all over his body. The lights turned on after that. Captain Payne looked up to see several uniformed men and women who worked with him every day, except now, they were all ready to kill him. Several feet away, perched in a makeshift hammock of red and black, there sat a very demonic looking individual. The individual in question met the captain's gaze with a devilish grin.

"Hey, cap! Pleased to make your acquaintance!" Carnage greeted gleefully.

Two red tendrils grew from Carnage's arms and snaked towards the captain. One wrapped around his body while the other wrapped around his throat, and they lifted him up until he was face-to-face with the symbiotic killer.

"What...what have you done?" asked Payne through gritted teeth.

"I've begun my big farewell party, cap. You, these cops, the people of New York...you're all just party favors."

"You're insane!"

"And you're a complete idiot. Did you really think I didn't already know I was insane? Duh! I've been in several mental institutions, cap. And that's even before I got my stylish red and black pajamas. Y'see, I'm going to be leaving you all very soon. But before I do, I wanna take some company along. So I figure, what the hell, bring all of New York! Five-thousands's company, as they say!"

Just then, Carnage could see something out of the window. Somebody dressed in red and blue was swinging toward the street in front of the precinct. Carnage smiled to himself and used a spawn of his symbiote to cut all of the lights back off.

"Places, people!" Carnage commanded to all of his slaves. He tightened the tendril around the Captain's throat so that he couldn't gather the breath to speak.

*********

Spider-Man, who held Jenny in his left arm, swung gracefully down to the sidewalk. He landed and placed Jenny on the ground, and the two of them looked up at the building.

"I thought you didn't like cops," said Jenny.

"I don't. Nor do I like paparazzo. But there's a guy in here who can help me," replied Peter.

Jenny and Spider-Man stepped into the precinct and immediately found themselves in an unlit room. Spider-Man stopped and grabbed Jenny when he felt his Spider-Sense going off.

"What's wrong?" asked Jenny.

"We have to get out of here," replied Peter. 

Just as he turned to leave, a fist met his mouth. He backed away and fired a web at whatever had just struck him. His Spider-Sense went in eight directions at once, so he did what his instincts told him. Peter knelt over Jenny and used his body to protect her while fists and feet bashed him from all directions. Eventually the lights turned back on. When he looked up, Peter saw that several police officers were standing around him. Psychotic laughter could be heard from above. Peter looked up at the sound of the laughter and gasped. Carnage hung from the ceiling in his hammock, holding Captain Payne up with him.

"Well ain't that some shit! I managed to catch a cop and a spider with the same trick within about three minutes! That's gotta be a record! Oh, and it looks like the spider brought a little friend to play with us," said Carnage. His blank white eyes stared deep into Jenny's. Until now, she had never seen Carnage in person. He must have been the most truly terrifying thing she had ever seen.

"Carnage, what the hell are you doing?" asked Spider-Man.

"I don't feel like giving the same speech twice! The captain here will tell you when you're both in hell. Or heaven...who cares, as long as you're not here!" replied Carnage. "You know what? Normally I have a fondness for cutting and stabbing and death by sharp objects in general. But today I think I'll try something a little different. I never really got to play with guns. And waddya know? Here we have a bunch of cops...with guns! Well, you all love to shoot me so much. Now, shoot him!"

Peter looked around. There had to be about twenty cops surrounding him. With every command that Carnage spoke, the officers would act.

"Ready..." they grabbed their guns.

"Aim..." they aimed at Spider-Man and Jenny.

"Fire!"

  
  


END OF CHAPTER SEVEN


End file.
